


Rebuild

by NeoCortex



Category: Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: Genderswapped Brian, Set after 2F2F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-06-26 16:54:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 15,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15667356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoCortex/pseuds/NeoCortex
Summary: This is the story all about how the team finds Brian again.Set after 2F2F.





	1. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So a bit of background for the readers.

_My name is Brianne Michelle O'Connor. But I go by Brian. I was too much of a tomboy growing up anyway. And if your mother had called you Brianne, you'd wanna shorten it too..._

_My best friend is named Roman Pierce, and we got into all kinds of trouble growing up. Then he went to jail... For eight counts of GTA... I told him not to take the job. I begged him not to do it... But he flat ignored me. Changed our whole relationship... His fucking sister still blames me for it. Says I abandoned him. But if she knew the truth she'd realize that it was the other way around... Rome abandoned me. He chose the job over me..._

_And I realized that with the way things were going, I'd either eventually end up with him in the clink, or on the other side of the law. I chose the other side... I became a cop (Sure I ended up in juvie and jail a fair few times… But it was never for longer than a year or two...)._

_I was good too. Worked my way up through the ranks and transferred from Barstow to LA. Made a decent name for myself in LA too. Went from street cop to UC work in only a few years. But then I got a job that took me down a long road I didn't think I'd find myself on..._

_Instead of taking my mark down, I fell for him... Only I couldn't actively let myself do that, so I fell for the sister too. God she was- is gorgeous. And sweet, so nice, and I really do- did love her. She's amazing and far too good for me..._

_But that case finished me as a cop._

_Instead of taking the mark in, I let him go. Because I'd chosen my path. I’d chosen my family. Even after they knew what I was, and how I'd betrayed them from the start I chose them and let them all go. Kept their names clean, as best I could anyway..._

_And then I ran. I ran so fast and so far- or as far as I could._

_I ran all the way from LA to Miami. And I made myself at home there. Or tried to..._

_I got a second chance at that 'cop life' with the FBI finding me and giving me a job. It was a chance to clear some names- though I never realized that doing the job would clear more than me and Rome- and make a new clean start for some people. Myself included..._

_I took it._

_In the process of that I found another girl to fall for-though that didn’t last long- and got an old friend back._

_Rome's been at my side ever since._

_We've been free and clear and had no worries at all. Got our own place, a nice garage where Rome and I fix any kind of car you bring in and I even have a specific specialization._

_But yeah, we got normal and calm for a while. That was of course until about three months ago..._

_When some old friends rolled into town..._


	2. Chapter 1: Shouldn't Be Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian's minding her own business when- WHAM!

                Brian was bent over under the hood of an old Viper when a collective roll of thunder rumbled through the entire garage. The sound had the piece she was working on vibrating around her and her curiosity was piqued. But she wasn’t coming out for anything short of Rome calling her.

She didn’t even move when his appreciative whistle could be heard nearby.

The thunder turned off all too quickly and she felt a little deaf as she fitted a few bolts in place.

Brian felt as well as heard several doors open and close and then Rome’s voice call out- affixing a put on pleasant accent in place, “What can we do for ya folks?”

The voice that answered nearly had Brian dropping her tools in the engine.

“We heard around town that this was the best place to bring old muscle.” It was rough and sounded angry, like they had been wronged at one time and hadn’t managed to get over it.

Rome answered nice and easy and Brian could hear the grin in his voice, “You heard right. My Girl can fix any piece of muscle you got.”

A second voice had her entire body tensing up as she stayed under the Viper’s hood, “What about a completely shot to hell 1970 Dodge Charge R/T?” The very question had her eyes clouding over and her heart dropping to her stomach- but she never quit working.

“Depends on what you mean by ‘shot to hell’.” Rome sounded interested as he tried to figure out what they were looking for.

A third voice actually did have her dropping her tools this time and coming upright but not turning around, “Hit by a semi. Needs a complete rebuild. From the chassis up.”

While Rome whistled again Brian’s brain did some hard overtime. That last voice shouldn’t be here. At all. Hell none of them really should have been here. But then that wasn’t the point. She thought that last voice was dead. She’d watched and even felt as he’d died in her arms...

But then nothing in her life was ever that simple. Was it?

She tuned back in as a voice finally actually spoke to her, “Bri, we got people here lookin’ for your area of expertise.” Rome. Okay. Cool. Calm. Ice. She wasn’t called Ice Queen for nothin’- even if the name did send anger through her veins…

She grabbed her grease rag and began wiping her hands off on the cloth as she slowly turned around and dropped a hip onto the front of the Viper. “Yeah? What for?”

“Apparently they want to know if you can do a rebuild.”

“Rebuilds are expensive.”

A snarky female voice popped off with, “We’re good for it if you are.”

For the first time in a rather long time ice blue eyes land on people she thought she’d never see again. Her next words held a lot of meaning…

“I can rebuild almost anything…”

“What can’t you rebuild?” This was from a second female of the group. Smaller than the other but looking just as fierce and feisty.

“Trust.”

Her own voice sounded thick to her ears and if the feeling in her throat was anything to go by she knew why.

It was the quieter man that answered, “Aw, I dunno about all that. I’m sure if you can fix Boss Man’s baby you’ll do just fine with gaining our trust in your car expertise.”

Blue eyes now landed on the quiet man and she gave him a sad smile, “I suppose that’s all a girl can ask for.” She let her eyes wander now back to Rome, “Take them inside, will ya? Get some info of what needs to be done-“

At that she was interrupted by the snarky woman, “You damn well know what needs to be done!”

Brian kept right on talking as if she hadn’t heard a thing, “-then give them a basic run through of cost and labor time. If they are agreeable then set them an appointment and I’ll clear a bay.”

Rome seemed to now be catching on that this was different somehow because he asked, “Want me to wave the Labor Fees?”

Brian looked over at the group then back to Rome with a sigh, “Yeah. Among a few others. We’ll talk about it later.”

“Why can’t you do all that?” This was asked by the voice that shouldn’t be there. She turned to look at the younger man and gave a soft smile- the first one she’d cracked since their arrival before answering him, “First off, I gotta fish out a couple wrenches from this piece of shit’s engine,” She knocked the Viper with her hip, “and I gotta finish the job. The cranky bastard wants it done by the time he finishes with his haircut.” She motioned then to the barber shop across the street and the whole group turned as one to look.

She snickers a little as they all turned back and had to fight a hard laugh as the younger male very obviously looked her over and grinned, “You can’t rush perfection.”

Instead she just answered, “Well not everyone shares your viewpoint.”

She heard a few hums of agreement but she hadn’t really a clue from who all they came from as she was trying now to turn her attention back to the job at hand- and getting Rome to move the group inside, “But if you will all excuse me, my partner will get you sorted while I get back to work.”

With that she forced herself to turn back to the Viper and proceeded to fish her wrenches from the bowels of the old car.

It was a few minutes later as she was putting the last nut in place that the she heard the office door close meaning Rome got the crew all inside and she could take a few minutes to let her brain come to that final screeching halt.

The whole team was there. Vince sounded as grumpy as ever. Dom still sounded the same too… Like he was just this side of dangerous and barely containing it. And Jesse... Wow… Jesse should be dead. She had a feeling that was a story he’d be more than happy to tell her when the time came. And there was Letty. That woman hated her guts almost as much as Vince did. But for different reasons she suspected.  Pair that with the woman whose heart Brian broke and the auto-mechanic was rather surprised she herself was still alive at the moment. The only other person that seemed okay with seeing her- aside from Jesse- was Leon. But then with that man it was hard to tell. He was so soft spoken that you never really knew what he was thinking until it was a bit too late.

If she stood still and quiet long enough- something she rarely did- she could almost hear Dom’s voice as he explained to Rome what he wanted done with the Charger.

What now confused Brian was this. Why were they bringing the Charger all this way to her? Also, how had they found her? That group of people was all well and truly capable of fixing that car themselves. So why waste all that time in bringing it to her? Clearly there was some sort of… ploy at play.

Whatever it was she just hoped it didn’t end badly…


	3. Chapter 2: Cars have life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian shows them the garage.

               She was cashing out the owner of the Viper about half an hour later when Rome stepped out of the office, “Hey Bri, this group wants to see the bays you’re workin’ with. You cool with that?”

She gave ‘Viper’ a fake smile before turning her attention to Rome and nodded, “Yeah, that’s cool. If they plan to actually let me work on the piece then they have the right to know what kind of equipment will be getting used on her.” She grabbed a key set off a peg board behind her and headed to the back of the garage.

“I keep the Muscle in a different area. Don’t wanna run the risk of something happening to the cars in the main bays. Muscle owners tend to be more protective than Ricers.” She stepped out of the back doors as she heard the group following her and she was pretty sure that she heard Letty mutter ‘that’s no lie’ as they all stepped into the heat of the midafternoon.

“So you and your partner said you have to clear out a bay. How many do you have?”

As she crossed the courtyard between garages she turned around to walk backwards, “That’s right. Rome, go grab the keys for the Rallye, Marsden should be here to get Her in an hour. Her tune up went like clockwork and the tires are good to do.”

As he nodded and jogged back the way they’d come she turned back around and continued talking, “I have four bays for Muscle. I keep it minimal so I can give each piece the individual attention they all deserve.” She stepped up to the doors of the second garage and leaned over to undo the first of three locks. Pulling the chain off now she stood back up and slung the links over her shoulder, “Part of the reason people bring their Muscle to me is _because_ of the fact that I give them individual attention. So they know they get quality work.”

When she threw open the garage doors Jesse let out a very appreciative whistle, “Be-yew-tee-full.”

Brian laughed lightly as she led the crew inside. All four bays were indeed full. Sitting in Bay One was a bright yellow car with black racing stripes, “Wait, is this the car you told your partner to get the keys for?” This question was from Vince as the gruff man stepped up to the vehicle in awe.

Brian stopped to the side of the lineup and nodded with her arms folded over her chest, “Yup. 1970 Oldsmobile Rallye 350. This was his first car when he was 18- inherited Her from his father, and he’s kept Her in near perfect condition since he got Her.”

Her focus turned next to the car that Letty was now admiring, “That Candy Apple piece of work is a ’67 Chevy Bel Air. She’s got some engine problems, but thankfully I was able to find the parts I need to fix her so she’ll be road worthy by next Friday.”

“What about this one?”

He looked over to where Mia was pointing at the Emerald Green car on the lift, “That’s a Super Bee. 1970 Dodge Coronet. He’s a temperamental beasty. Been in three times in the last two months alone for several different things. Honestly, I’m surprised he’s still running with the way his owner drives him.”

She grinned a bit now as she walked down the line to join Leon, Dom, and Jesse in front of the final car on the line, “1974 AMC AMX.” She grinned a bit and patted the hood of the car lightly, “Max here rarely sees Bay Time. Today he was just in for a break change. His Mom’ll be here around six to pick him up.”

“You talk about them all like they’re people…”

Brian turned her head to look at Letty now, pinning her with a semi-hard gaze, “Aren’t they? The Engine is their central nervous system. Gas their food, oil is their blood. The frame is the bones. Each vehicle has a different personality. And much like people they have a story to tell.”

Letty was now staring at her with a raised eyebrow as Rome wandered up, “And it’s Bri’s job to preserve it.” With a grin he crawled carefully into the Rallye and started her up. With a hum to herself Brian walked over to the front of the car and let the roar of the engine roll over her. She grinned a bit and placed both hands on the hood and a shiver ran through her as she let the vibrations from the engine wash over her.

Hearing and feeling each car start up never got old.

Rome was grinning impishly at her through the windshield as he tapped the gas to give the engine a growling rev. Pinning him with a bright gaze she slid out of the way and watched with a nearly sated expression as he moved the car from the bay and gracefully took her around front of the shop.

A throat cleared and she turned to see The Toretto clan starting at her all with different expressions. She raised a brow at them all as she spoke now, “Feel free to have a look around. Break anything and I’ll have your hide. But if you have any questions I’ll be up in the office.”

So saying she turned now to a set of metal stairs and took them two at a time until she was safely ensconced in her private office.


	4. Chapter 3: Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation is had.

                 Sinking into her chair behind the desk she let herself have a moment that she hadn’t yet.

Seeing Dom now was hard. Especially after gaining his trust and betraying the entire crew. The only one who hadn’t trusted him and had been right to was Vince. Part of her wished- even now- that Dom had listened to him back then. If he had she wouldn’t be sitting here concerned for her wellbeing and sanity.

She had a blissful ten minutes to herself before there was a knock at her door.

“It’s open.”

The person that came in was the last person she expected, “Imagine my surprise when nearly a year after everything goes down, Dom gets a letter down in Rio from some government higher up that says we’ve all been cleared of any charges we’d had thrown against us. And not only that but a certain man’s record was sealed and he was given a clean slate to come home.”

Brian cocked her head to the side and stared at Vince, “I’m being honest when I say I don’t really know much about that.”

“Don’t you?”

Brian shakes her head now and sighs, “All I know is what I was told. I was being given a chance to clear my name and Rome’s too. I didn’t know anything about clearing you guys too. Not that I wouldn’t have if I’d known.”

Vince stood with his arms folded over his chest and a hip cocked to the side, “I believe you.”

She kept her eyes on some random paperwork now on her desk as she took a shaky breath and exhaled out, “I’m sorry…”

“So am I.” When she shook her head to say something he stopped her, “You saved my life and my ass. At great cost to your own.”

She looked up now and there were tears standing in bright blue eyes, “I betrayed you all. You were right and he ignored you. His best friend. For what? A piece of tail that he wasn’t even fucking?”

Vince’s face took on a very confused expression now, “Is that really how you saw yourself? You earned your place in the family. Sure, you were manipulating us to get that place, but you did earn it. You were doing your job. And I saw in that moment when you called for a helivac how much it killed you to do that. Not save my life, but prove that I was right in that way. You hated it.”

She looked down at her desk again, tears now falling freely down her cheeks, “I was a cop. Doing my job…”

“And then you took a stand. You chose. When you killed Tran and let Dom go you chose your side. You chose your family.”

It was quiet for a few moments and then a handkerchief appeared in her line of vision. Letting out a wet laugh she took it and wiped her face and eyes as she heard Vince sink into the chair in front of her, “As for what I know is clearly weighing on your mind. Jesse apparently came around on the way to the morgue. According to some doctors that talked to Mia his body slowed everything down and when you thought he had died he really just went into some kind of trance or sleep or whatever and it kept him alive but only barely. The doctor told Mia that the EMT that was transporting Jesse said the kid came awake to a full upright position calling from some guy named Brian before passing back out. They got him intubated and turned for the hospital instead of the morgue.”

Brian was staring at Vince now with a raised brow and wide eyes.

“I’m serious. I found out all of this from Mia after I came out of surgery and finally came around. I swear to you everything I’ve just told you is true. You can even ask Mia.”

“I think I’ll pass on that. Doubt she wants to talk to the woman that broke her heart…”

Vince snorted and nodded a bit, “Sure, you broke her heart. But I think she saw it coming- not you being a cop, apparently she knew that part before all of us? Or at least the rest of us.” His grin was wry but Brian returned it almost sadly. “No, she told me one night that if things had been different she knew without a doubt that you’d have broken things off with her for Dom.”

“He’s right.” Brian looked up with a startled jump and Vince dropped his head back to see Mia standing behind him.

“Hiya Mia.” He grinned at the bland look she gave him before she turned her attention back to Brian.

“I know that you loved me. And I saw how much it killed you to tell me the truth. But looking back on everything, especially after hearing how you’d let my brother just go like that… I knew then that however much you loved me, you would always love him more.”

Brian’s fingers were wringing the cloth in her hand and tears were standing in her eyes again as Mia stepped into the office fully, “Bri, it’s okay now. I promise.”

She was nodding when she heard Dom’s gruff voice call out. Clearly he was done looking around. Standing up Brian wiped her face one more time and chuckled wetly as Vince told her to keep the handkerchief. “Besides, you need it right now. We’ve kind of turned your world upside down.”

“Again…”

Vince raised a brow at her muttered statement, “What?”

“You’ve turned my world upside down again.” She took a steadying breath and pocketed the cloth before stepping out of the office and leading the duo back down to the garage not seeing the looks they gave each other as they followed her.

Downstairs Leon, Jesse, and Letty were still appraising the cars while Dom was now standing off to the side watching Brian with his arms folded over his chest. She ignored him for now in favor of addressing the group as a whole, “Did you all find everything to your liking?”

It was Dom who answered, “For the most part.” This surprised her slightly but she kept her emotions and face in check- ice cold.

“Alright. Any concerns?”

“Thought you only knew how to fix Ricer vehicles.” This was from Letty before Dom could get anything out of his mouth.

Brian shrugged a shoulder, “I can fix anything. It’s just that Ricer cars were what I always raced. And out here it’s the majority of the scene.”

Letty raised a brow and cocked her head to the side, “What kind of races you got out here?”

Brian leaned against a stationary table and folded her arms over her chest, “Out here it’s different. The races are organized and they’re courses through town.”

“Kind of like in GTA?” This from Jesse now.

Brian looked over at him as she answered, “Mm, more like the racing games at the arcade in the mall.” When Jesse nodded Brian smirked a bit, “As a matter of fact Tej managed to replicate the ‘Miami’ course in the game.”

It was at this point that Rome came back again, “And that’s tonight’s line up. He just called. Wanted to know if you were in Bri.”

She cocked her head to the side, “What’s the buy in?”

“10. So far he’s got nine other racers. Two of which are new to our scene.” At this Brian raised an eyebrow and grinned a bit.

“That’s an easy hundred Bri.”

“Are you one of those nine?”

Rome took a moment to look offended, “You know I wouldn’t be asking you if I was.”

“Why not?” This was from Vince who had a strange grin on his face, “You scared to race your friend?”

For the first time since the Toretto team’s arrival a dark look crossed over Rome’s face, “No. I don’t take money from my sister.”

“Nor I from my brother.” Vince looked between Rome and Brian and managed to look contrite after a moment, “My bad.”

Leon snickered from where he stood by the AMC still, “At least some families have standards.”

“Is that why you never wanted to race me?” Mia’s question came from behind her.

“No, see that had more to do with not wanting to have my ass kicked by my girlfriend…”

By the Chevy Letty let out a very unladylike snort and Brian gave her a bland look, “What? Some of us are mature enough to admit they don’t always win.” The look Brian got in return could have killed a person if it were lethal enough. But Brian was unfazed.

“Anyway, yeah Rome, tell Tej I’m in then set these nice folks up with an appointment if they’re satisfied with what they’ve seen. I’m gonna head out to get food. I’ll bring you somethin’ back.”

Without so much as another word or backwards glance at her former family she left the garage entirely, tossing Rome the Muscle bay keys as she went.


	5. Chapter 4: Names and Cars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dom comes up with nicknames and a car is chosen.

                 _So as you can see things were off to an interesting start. Clan Toretto was in Miami and apparently wanted ME to fix the Charger…_

_I had no idea what was going to happen from that moment on. My nice and comfortable, slightly predictable life was thrown off kilter and I was barely keeping my feet on the ground. And Rome could tell because that night he confronted me._

               “Blondie, you up?”

Brian stepped out of the bathroom as Rome actually stepped into the small living space that was the houseboat, “Well I got a race in an hour so I’d say so.”

Rome gave her a grin and flopped down on her bed before taking on a serious face, “So don’t get mad at me. But what was all that today?”

Brian sighed and walked over to her closet to pull clothes out, “Well, I’m guessing you figured out part of it. That was Team Toretto.”

“The guys you let go in LA. Yeah, I figured that. Which makes the silent one The Mark.”

Brian nodded and pulled on a pair of low rise jeans- not caring that Rome was in the room, “Yeah. That’s Dom.”

Rome nodded as he heard the sadness in her voice, “Which one was The Sister?”

The fact that Brian could hear the capital letters when Rome asked had her grinning as she grabbed her bra off the bed and put it on, “That would be Mia. The pretty one that was behind me on the stairs.”

“The Little One. Got it. So the Feisty Mama was The Girlfriend?”

“Yup. Leticia Ortiz. Better known as Letty.”

She saw him nodding as her tank top went over her head. “So which was The Quiet One and The Grumpy One?”

At this Brian laughed, because the nicknames were so perfect that she didn’t even have to ask who Rome was talking about. “The Quiet One is Leon and The Grumpy One is Vince.” She almost couldn’t wait for what Rome came up with for Jesse.

“And was The Hyper one Jesse then?” Rome sounded a bit unsure at that, but he had good reason. Brian had told Rome that Jesse had died in her arms. She took a deep breath and sighed, nodding.

“Yeah. Vince told me what happened. And to be sure he got most of it third hand anyway. Jesse apparently didn’t die in my arms like I thought. But his body slowed most of its own functions down and that kept him alive somehow. I’m not gonna question it… I’m just glad that a fraction of my guilt can be erased.”

Rome frowned and looked at Brian now, “That wasn’t your fault. That was some chink asshole too big for his britches.”

Brian found it very hard in that moment to keep a straight face. Later as she remembers the conversation she still won’t know how she managed it. “Whatever. I killed said ‘chink’ so it’s a moot point.”

She walked to the mirror on her closet and debated what to do with her hair. Earlier it had been tied back in a braid, now it hung loose to the middle of her back in a tumble of damp curls. Rome, ever the one to know what’s on her mind spoke up, “Leave it down. You never do anymore. Besides, if you add a little mascara it’ll give you that ‘out of their league’ look that you project so well.”

Brian snorted as she looked over at him, “Out of their league, huh?”

“Don’t look at me that way, you know what I’m talkin’ about. That ice cold, better than thou thing you always have goin’ when we race.”

She laughed now as she shrugged and walked into her tiny bathroom and actually applied some mascara after she thought about how true his statement was. She very rarely went too girly, but when she did it had some desired effects. Why not play it up tonight?

“Hey, which car you wanna run tonight?”

She was raking her fingers through her curls as she walked back out of the bathroom a few minutes later, “I dunno. I thought for a few minutes about the Surpa I got off that one kid… But now I’m thinkin’ the Skyline.”

Rome was sitting up now as he watched her, “I still don’t get why you bet for that car.”

She chuckled a bit and sighed, “Sentimental reasons.” The car in question was a hideous orange 1995 Toyota Supra Mark IV. To this day Brian still isn’t sure if it’s really the one she rebuilt with Mia and Jesse, or if the kid that she won it off of just happened to have the same taste in cars and paint jobs as she did. Whatever it was, she once again had her very own ’10 second car’ and she was determined to keep this one.

“Whatever. Which one you gonna race?”

After a few minutes of thought she grinned, “You know what, I’m gonna run the Skylark.”

Rome was in the process of getting up when Brian said that, “You sure? I mean, not that I don’t agree, but you never run the Miami course with Skylar. You normally save her for the shorter races.”

Brian grinned a bit and shrugged, “It’s been a while since she got a turn.”

Rome seemed to agree here as he was now fully upright and grinning, “Well then let’s take The Pretty Lady out for a night on the town.”

Brian laughed as she once again could hear the capital letters in Rome’s words as they headed out the door.


	6. Chapter 5: The Competition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Brian and Rome roll up the competition is assessed.

            _So we got to the race that night and as if the car gods were laughing at me, I saw that Team Toretto were all there, lined up as spectators with the rest of the crowd. And just like always, Dom was surrounded by a small crowd of admirers, while Vince had a race bunny under each arm. Both Letty and Mia were not amused, but after so long I could still tell it was all a show._

_When I pulled up on the line Rome hopped out of the car and Tej strolled up to my window to take my entry and let me know there was time before the race started. So I decided to get out of the car for a bit._

_I have to say, that was an interesting night, for sure…_

            Brian was unfolding herself from the confines of her car when a familiar voice called out after a surprised whistle, “Be-yew-tee-full~”

“Me or the car, Jess?” As she leaned against the open door with a lazy grin on her face he gave an appraising look to her and the car before answering her grin with one of his own, “Both, Majesty, always both.”

She laughed lightly and closed the car’s door before walking around to the front to lean against the hood.

“1967 Buick Skylark. Very nice.” Both Jesse and Brian look over as one of the racers walks over to them. From the looks of him he’s one of the two new comers.

“It’s a ’69.” Jesse pipes up with a look at the guy that tells Brian the kid clearly doesn’t like this one. Which is perfectly cemented when he opens his mouth again.

“I think I know my cars, Kid.”

The way he calls Jesse ‘Kid’ sets her teeth on edge and she easily slips into Ice Mode, “He’s right.” Her tone is so cold and hard that even Jesse looks at her with surprise.

“I’m sorry?” New Guy- oh good, now she’s doing Rome’s nickname thing- looks at her with wide eyes and a slightly slack jaw.

“I said, he’s right. It’s a ’69. A 1969 Buick Skylark GS to be exact.”

“Well, a girl who knows her cars. I like that.”

“I have to. It’s my job.”

He raises an eyebrow at her now and smirks a bit, “Is that so? What you call in for parts for your boyfriend’s shop?”

The look she gives him now completely matches the icy tone of her voice and it has Jesse taking a step back as she stands up-right now, her height giving New Guy pause as she is nearly as tall as him, “It’s my shop. And I rebuild them.”

It’s at this point that Rome steps up with his hands in his pockets and a tight grin on his face, “Hey, Buddy, you might wanna get back to your car before My Girl decides to put you in the ground long before your time. She’s not nice when you insult her capabilities.”

New Guy snorts and rolls his eyes as he walks away now as if it was his own idea and not one pushed on him by someone trying to keep a friend out of jail.

Rome turned his focus to Jesse who was standing a few feet back with eyes wide as he stared at Brian. “You alright, Man?”

Jesse took his eyes off Brian for a second and nodded at Rome, “Yeah. Just sort of forgot how scary she can be…”

Rome gave him a nod, “Yeah. Stupid people still piss her off…”

Brian seemed to not hear them as she continued to watch New Guy walk off and begin to talk shit with the crew he seemed to roll with. Giving them another moment of her attention she cocked her head in Rome’s direction, “Rome, what do we know about that guy?”

Rome turned his focus from Jesse to where Brian was staring while Jesse leaned against the car beside her now, “Well, he’s got shit for brains. His car is a super modded Mitsubishi. Every modification he could put into it, he did. Every last bit of money he had saved up went into that p.o.s.. According to some people that know him, he can drive. So long as it’s a straight line.”

“Sounds to me like he just plays the game, not the story.” Brian nodded at Jesse’s observation before asking again, “What about The Other One?”

Rome could apparently hear the capital letters because he raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t say anything other than, “From what Suki’s girls were able to find out, he just wanted to race. He’s bored and was looking for something to do.”

This got identical strange looks from Brian and Jesse, “So a very rich, bored guy plus a now in debt stupid driver and who are the other racers?”

Brian now grinned at Jesse, “Just a bunch of regulars that are probably hating that I’m running tonight.”

As if they were conjured right up a group of Hispanic men walked over to stand in a semi-circle in front of Brian’s car, “This is a pretty piece, Princess, where’d you find her?”

Brian was leaning against the hood of the car again, arms crossed over her chest as she cocked her head to the side, “Truth be told, I found her in a junk yard. Poor thing was rusting away. Should have seen her when I got her…” Brian placed a hand on the Skylark’s hood beside her now and gave the car a fond look before looking back at the men, “She just needed a little TLC, is all.”

“Well let us all hope that your Pretty Lady doesn’t fall apart on you in the middle of the race, Si?”

Brian raised a brow at the man and snickered, “I’m pretty sure if I remember correctly, it was you who lost three wheels in the middle of a race, Jorge?

Rome nodded and smirked, “That’s what happens when you take your car to a mechanic that don’t know what they doin’.”

Brian nodded, “But then again, he’s got this policy, see.” She was looking at Jesse as if to involve him in the conversation.

“Yeah,” Rome picked up with a grin, settling right on the other side of Jesse, “He refuses to take his car to ‘the competition’”

Jesse snickered as both Roman and Brian used air quotes at the same time, and Brian picked up the next line of the conversation, “But see, here’s the thing, the competition- that’s me, Tej, and Rome- we _want_ our competitors to have properly cared for vehicles.”

“We _want_ their cars working properly and in the best possible shape they can be.”

Jesse smirked now as he added his own two cents here, “Well how else are you supposed to work for the win?”

“Exactly~!” Rome and Brian exclaimed at the same time with a laugh.

After a moment Brian turned her head back to look at Jorge now and smirked with her head cocked to the side, “But then when you take your car to ‘the family’ mechanic then… well the family doesn’t always have your best interest at heart.”

“I know that’s right. If I remember correctly just the other day I heard him getting yelled at by his ol’ lady just because he wanted to race again this weekend.” Brian looked over at Rome with wide eyes and a barely contained giggle as the man said that, “Right in the middle of the supermarket. For shame.”

This caused everyone around Jorge to laugh at the driver’s expense while Jorge tried- and failed- to look indignant.

To show him some relief Brian waved them all down and gave Jorge a grin, “Look, if you ever change your mind, you know where to find us.” The man waved her off now as he made his way over to where he’d be starting on the line.

Jesse let out a breath and looked at Brian in awe again, “As soon as they rolled up I was expecting something else.”

“Oh we get a lot of that too. But not on this track. The only time Tej usually sets this one is when we do have new people in town for a race.”

“Yeah, then that’s when the regulars that race for just money or the reputation come to play. The people out here have all raced Brian or Me many times and know what they’re up against when we roll up, but they don’t always know who they’re racing until the passenger steps out.”

Brian grins here and pushes off the hood of the car. Tej tossed up the signal and it was nearly time for the race to actually start. As she slid into her seat she could hear Rome talking to Jesse still as they moved away to the sidelines, “See, Blondie always wins when she runs. Most of the time, they hate it. Races like this they don’t mind it so much. This is for them to all show off for the new racers. I don’t always win. So they like when I run. It’s part of why she doesn’t race as often anymore.”

            _It was at about that point that I lost track of what Rome and Jesse were talking about because by then I was paying more attention to Tej as he was standing in front of the line with a white towel in hand._

_The race was about to start and I could hear it as every engine on the line rolled over. To my left I could hear two more Muscles on the line, and another to my right. But the rest were all Ricers. Now obviously I have nothing against Ricers. I drive them too. But sometimes, a girl just needs to feel the rumble of good old fashion American Muscle beneath her._

_Needless to say, Rome’s words rang true. I won the race. It was actually kind of close, Jorge gave a good race that night. But he hit the Nos too soon. They always do when they think they have it in the bag. Hell, I’ve been guilty of that many times._

_But when he rolled up on the finish line behind me it was clear that he couldn’t stay mad._


	7. Chapter 6: Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian nearly beats someone's ass and unexpected help steps in.

            Brian was climbing out of her car again as it was being surrounded by spectators wanting to get her attention and congratulate her on the win when Jorge’s Kia rolled to a stop behind her and he climbed out with a stupid grin on his face, “I almost had you this time, Chika!”

At his words her mind was taken back to a time when she’d said almost the exact same thing to another racer. With a wry grin she shook her head and answered him, “Nah. I don’t think so.” The people surrounding her all laughed and many appeared to agree with her as all of the sudden a series of cars pulled up behind them.

One of the cars pulled in hotter than the rest and a very angry New Guy slammed out of his car and stalked up to Jorge yelling angrily in rapid fire Spanish. When New Guy had Jorge slammed against the Kia Brian- along with a bunch of other people- was over to them in a few seconds flat.

Pushing her way between the now yelling pair she shoved New Guy back and had to yell to herself heard over what sounded like him accusing Jorge of cheating, “HEY! Cut the shit! What is your issue!”

“This pendejo caused me to lose the race!”

Here Brian snorted, “Cabron! You lost on your own merits!”

New Guy gave her a dirty look as he continued to yell now, “This hijo de puta tapped my bumper and caused me to spin out!”

“Oh Dios mio! That still doesn’t mean a damn thing! And if I remember correctly, your stupid ass spun out two cars behind him! You were already in his rear view when you crashed!” She snorted and cocked her hip to the side as she stepped back and folded her arms over her chest, “I mean, you sure as shit were in _mine_.”

She watched in fascination as his face went from red of anger to a fuchsia of embarrassment and he began to take his anger out on her. And as good as her Spanish was she still had a hard time keeping up with half of what New Guy was yelling about. Though for sure she knew he had called her a cheating whore at one point.

“Escucha aqui hijo de puta, you can yell all you want. Be mad all you want. Nadie aqui da un maldito. But you wouldn’t have won any damn way! Even if you _had_ gotten past Jorge, you’d _still_ have to have gotten past me! So trying to accuse someone of cheating only works if you can actually race. And all the money you can pour into a car doesn’t make you a racer if you can’t drive it.”

Apparently this was the _wrong_ thing to say as New Guy took that moment to start ranting again and now lunge at Brian.

Thankfully he never got a chance to attack her as he was quickly pulled away by various people in the crowd. Even as he was being man handled he was still yelling at Brian, “If this is how people in the Miami race scene treat newcomers then I can garauntee you won’t get any more racers, and your whole establishment will be dismantled!”

All too quickly Bri's face went manic. Her lips curled up into a smile The Joker would have been proud of and her eyes turned dark and menacing. This face caused several people to step back in fear. But New Guy apparently wasn't that smart as even while held back he tried to lunge at her.

"Oh no. You see, that's not how it works around this area. You're the one that gets black balled. We have a list out here. When we have people like you out here, we keep that list close at hand. What goes on said list is this; your car- make and model, your license plate, and any necessary information on your driver's license that you turned in before this race started." She was now in his personal space and he was looking at her with anger in his eyes.

"That information then gets sent to all the racing circuits in this state. Because we all run them. And if you're lucky then it all just stays in Florida. But if you're unlucky, you get racers like me that run in other states." Her grin now was a very sickly sweet as she stared up at the bigger man, "And we all keep a copy of the updated lists. So I'd think very carefully on what happens next, because you're already on the list. Whatever you do next may just lose you your life..."

It was as Brian was finishing this statement that someone decided to squeeze their way in-between Brian and New Guy, "Okay Mama, I'm gonna need you to take a step back and breathe for me, Si?" The hand on her chest had Brian looking down at it and then quickly into the eyes of a one Letty Ortiz. The surprise alone had her doing what the Latino said and stepping back.

"Are you armed?"

Brian blinked in surprise at the question but nodded as she said, "Always."

She watched as Letty nodded and tapped Brian's clavicle twice, "Then I'mma need you to step back again and breathe."

When Brian did as she was told the dark haired woman turned around and squared up against the New Guy, "So I'm gonna let you in on a little secret that really isn't much of a secret. Blondie here is crazy. But here's something else you didn't know- and only a few select people do. Blondie here also ran with a pretty infamous crew. They're known the nation over. And they aren't known for abiding by rules, but the ones that they do, they follow to the letter." Her own grin turned manic for a moment as she continued on, "This crew- I'm sure you've heard of them as limited as your driving knowledge seems to be- is known as the Toretto Clan. And I'm one of them."

People watched as she pointed back over Brian's shoulder to wear the rest of the team was apparently standing on the other side of Jorge's Kia, "That's the rest of them. And you see the bald one with the muscle?" When he acknowledged Dom she nodded, "Yeah, that's Mr. Toretto himself. And he holds the leash to all of us. But Brian's he holds much tighter. Because Brian is a crazy bitch. She used to be a cop. She turned for Him. And she will not hesitate to kill if he tells her to."

This was the point when New Guy apparently took a hint because at the mention of Brian having been a cop he turned grey and looked wildly at Brian now. But Letty brought his attention back to her for a moment as she finished with him, "So I suggest you gets ta steppin' and be thankful that you get to leave with only a black listed name in Florida racing."

Everyone watched as New Guy- who as it turns out was named Brian- practically ran away from them like his life depended on it. And let’s face it, it kind of did.

While he ran Letty turned and walked back to Brian, placing a hand on her chest again as Brian continued to stare after New Guy/Brian with anger in her eyes. The hand however, brought her back again, "You good?"

"No."

"Will you be?"

"When this night is over..."

"Fair."

Letty's hand pat twice at Brian's chest again and left an ache of warmth there when it was gone. But it was soon moved to the back of her neck as a much larger hand cupped there and a gruff voice sounded at her side, "We good?"

Brian turned her head and ice blue eyes landed on Dominic Toretto. And she couldn't help answering honestly even as her brain screamed to give her old answer, "No. But I will be."

When he was about to say something else she stepped away from his hand and stalked for her car, snapping out her brother's name as she did, "Rome! Let's roll!"

As soon as he was in the car she tore out of the lot and drove like a mad woman for home.


	8. Chapter 7: Why?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why does he have to know her so damn well?

            _So I’m assuming that by this point you all notice that apparently Vince’s words from earlier extended to more than just himself and Mia… But before that moment at the track I hadn’t known this. So my reaction was a mix of emotions from both New Guy and them._

_Needless to say, back at my place I was a bit of a mess…_

_Poor Rome._

            “You gonna be alright, Sis?”

“Why the fuck everyone gotta keep askin’ me that?” She yelled as she stood in the tiny kitchen area of the boathouse.

Rome tried for a little bit of logic here, “Well see, with the arrival of Team Toretto, finding out Jesse is alive, them apparently wanting you to fix the Charger, them showing up at the race tonight, New Guy trying to be stupid, and Feisty Mama backin’ you up the way she did, I at least have a decent idea of what might be going on in your head right now.”

“And what the fuck would that be?” She hissed out slamming her half empty bottle of Corona down on the kitchen counter as he lounged across her bed.

“How has my life spiraled into this mess? What the fuck have I done with my life to deserve this shit? Why are they here? Should I go after that asshole? Why do I have to face these feelings again?”

When Rome just rattled off the questions she looked at him with a raised brow and tried to find a way to tell him he was wrong. When that didn’t come to her at all she sighed and her shoulders sagged as she slumped against the counter. Why did he have to know her so well?

“Yeah. See? Told you. So I ask again, you gonna be alright?”

This time she gave an answer that pained her, “I don’t know.”

Roman could hear the pain in her answer and he was off the bed and pulling her into his arms as Brian did something he hadn’t seen her do since they were kids. She clung to his shirt tightly and let herself cry.

After a solid five minutes of this Rome decided to move to a more comfortable location and scooped the still crying blonde into his arms and sat on her bed against the wall that served as a headboard. Holding her tightly to him he didn’t even say anything as she adjusted to the change and curled up in his lap, tears still falling as everything about the last 20 hours came crashing down on her.


	9. Chapter 8: Time is Money

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The car is brought by and some new things are learned...  
> And the question is STILL not answered...

           _So two days goes by. Two days and I have no clue when they're supposed to show up with the Dodge. Two days and I haven't seen them even once. And it's driving me insane. Thankfully Rome had kept me busy. Gotta love my brother.  
_

          Brian was closing the hood of Honda Accord when she heard a now familiar- still aching- rumble of muscle and rice pull into the parking lot.

It had been two days since the race and Their arrival and with not a word from them since and she had just kept right on working. Rome gave her every car that came through the shop just to keep her from pacing in nervousness.

Closing the hood she didn't turn around. Instead she wiped her hands, and turned for the front desk. She caught Rome's eye through the open office door and he took that as his cue to come out and handle the 'new customers' while she handled the last of the work to be done with the Honda. Glancing up she watched as Rome met them at the edge of the open doors of the garage. She was looking back to her computer when she heard Rome's whistle of clear surprise.

They were far enough away from the desk that she didn't catch the whole conversation but she was able to make out who was all talking at each point.

She was finishing up the paperwork for the Honda when the entire party came in. Jesse immediately came up to the counter and leaned on in her space with a 1000 watt grin, "So today we bring you a hunk of junk."

This statement was met with two different "Hey!" One from a vaguely amused Dom and to everyone's surprise the other slightly angrier from Brian herself. She gave Jesse a stern look, blue eyes like steel with fire behind them, "You ever call that car a 'hunk of junk' again I will personally shove you in a hole up to your neck."

"Wow. Touchy..." Brian turned her gaze from a now chastised Jesse to an amused and smug Letty. "I'm the reason it's in the condition it is. So I take it a little personal."

"Bri, you're really not-"

Brian cut Vince off now with a shake of her head and a sigh, "Had I not come into your lives that car would not be here. Instead it would be in the garage probably still in need of work because Dom would still be holding onto anger and doubt about what it represented..."

"Sooo... What you're saying is that it's a _good_ thing that you came into our lives and forced Dom to finally fix it?" She blinked now and looked at Leon with that almost deer in the headlights kind of look and before she could even think of a reply Dom spoke up next.

"That's what it sounds like to me..." His words and the way they were all looking at her now caused Brian to advert her gaze and return to the computer in front of her. She fought the blush off- thankfully- but knew that if she continued to look at them she might end up in tears.

Thank god for Rome.

Clearing his throat he stepped around the counter to stand beside her and pull out a binder from beneath the counter, "So apparently they actually brought parts with them." This caught her attention now as she saved the receipts and paperwork to the computer for the Honda and turned her work brain to the new job at hand.

"Really?" When he nodded she cocked her head to the side and looked at the list he now had in his hand as he flipped through the binder.

"Yeah, the only thing we weren't able to find was a new block. But we figure you might fare better than us there."

Brian was looking over the list as Rome flipped through the binder still looking at prices and what not, when Mia said they weren't able to get a new engine block she immediately turned back to the computer and began typing away, "Believe it or not I have one in the garage. Had an old Dodge get scrapped because she was so rusted out there wasn't anything that we could do to save her."

"Broke Blondie's heart so bad she was literally crying over it for several hours. Though now I think about it I might know the real reason for the tears now." Brian grinned a bit at Rome's words and shook her head now, "Nah. That time it was really about the car." She looked at the crew now, "The car was literally falling apart if you touched her. The owner- and I use the term loosely- sold her to me for scrap because the only useful thing on her was the engine block. I broke her down the rest of the way, cleaned the block and have been waiting for a chance to use her on a build."

"Small miracles." This from Leon and she nodded with a soft smile as she looked back to the computer now, "So looks like the cost of parts is taken care of." She pulled up the ticket that Rome had created for the team, "I know you said from the chassis up, but how does said chassis look?" She looked at Dom now properly for the first time since they all walked in. He looked good. And not just because a part of her heart ached for him. But he looked good. Softer and more at ease with everything. But she could tell- especially if the night at the race was anything to go by, that if he needed to he was still that hard ass he was before.

"She's a bit bent up but I figure that's an easier fix than anything else."

Brian nodded now, "I'll take a look, but you're probably right." Hell he had more experience there than she did so he was more than likely right. As usual. Which brought her to her next question that came out before she even could stop it, "With that in mind, why exactly did you guys bring Her to me?"

This got them all looking at Jesse. Clearing her throat she cocked her head to the side now, "Jesse?"

The youngest man looked a bit sheepish now and grinned a little, "Well I... may or may not have made it my mission after getting out of the hospital to find the woman that pretty much saved mine and Vince's lives."

Brian snickered a bit as she shook her head now, "And how did that go for you?"

"Well we're here aren't we?"

"After how long?"

He cleared his throat and blushed a bit, "You're not an easy person to find Miss O'Connor."

"Bein' wanted by the law'll do that for ya."

"Shit, Blondie was the best at hide-n-seek when we were kids because she was so small and could hide in all the places we couldn't."

She sighed here and looked back at her computer, "Having an abusive step father'll do that to..."

The whole team watched as shutters dropped behind bright blue eyes and Rome shifted the way he was standing as if to step into her space better. Behind the counter he was standing a bit spread legged with his right thigh pressed against her left and she was leaning slightly into it without giving anything away on her face.

It was now Vince who spoke up again, "Well that certainly explains a few things..."

Darkened eyes looked to him now, "You would flinch any time I came near you after a while. I thought it was because we were both always geared for a fight. But I'm figuring he was my size?" When she gave a silent nod and turned back to the computer she had to clear her throat and fight hard to keep the tears that were pricking the corners of her eyes from falling. So to distract herself she shifted now and leaned against the side counter, "So since we were gonna waive labor fees and have you pay for parts we now have to recalculate."

"They've got parts so there's that one. But we can still waive labor. A rebuild like that'll take what?"

"Month, month and a half at most. With the parts already taken care of a month at minimum."

"So instead of charging by the week, charge by the day?"

She was doing the calculations in her head when Letty asked, "Which is cheaper?"

Both answered, "Daily."

"Charge for two weeks instead of the month?"

She hummed in thought as her brain finished those calculations too, "Yeah. I was thinking that too."

"Plus or minus?"

"Minus that."

"Flat?"

"Yeah, we can do that."

"So flat. Minus that. Plus the other?" Rome was making some notes in a notepad now and if anyone were to look at it they'd have one hell of a time deciphering his writing.

Brian did a bit more calculations in her head now and nodded, "Yeah, that'll work."

It was at this point the pair remembered the team was there when three throats cleared and Mia spoke up, "Can someone please speak English?"

Brian snickered, "Sorry guys, doing math."

"Yeah because that looks like math," Dom was looking at Rome's handwriting upside down and she had to snicker again as Rome answered, "Actually it's Arabic. So it kind of is math."

This got them all to look at them with wide eyes before Jesse nonchalantly popped off with, "Well since technically America's numbers are Arabic in origin it makes sense."

"You would know that kind of useless shit," Vince grumbled from where he was off to Dom's side.

Brian grinned as she turned back to the computer and began typing again. After a few minutes she reached under the counter and grabbed a sheet of paper off the printer and handed it over to Dom who took it with a raised brow before looking at it.

She watched his face as he read and smirked when he looked up at her with wide eyes, "Is this with or without a friends and family discount?"

"Without?" She bit back the laugh as his eyes seemed to get wider and watched as everyone gathered around him to look at the receipt.

"How much would it be _with_?" Letty looked at him now with wide eyes and a furrowed brow.

Brian closed an eye and the other looked up as she did the math in her head before answering, "Half." She couldn't help the snicker again as all eyes looked at her now with different expressions of shock. She giggled now as she grabbed a set of keys off the peg board behind her and made her way through the garage, "Rome, have them bring Her around. Lets get 'er in a bay."

She snickered to herself as she heard him while she walked away, "You heard the Lady, lets move. Time is money." At that she couldn't help the outright laugh as she disappeared from their view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter as it was written at work but here's the next installment.


	10. Chapter 9: Information Dump.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team learns more about Brian.

            _So I remember what the car looked like after the wreck, but to see it again after so long? Yeah, it was killer punch to the gut…_

Brian stood at the bay doors while Vince backed the trailer in. When Letty motioned the all good Leon and Jesse walked over to pull the tarp Brian felt her entire world shift under her. She was back in the Supra watching in absolute horror as a semi-truck plowed into the Charger, throwing the car- driver still inside of it- a good thirty feet.

She rewatched the entire scene as Dom pulled himself from the car and she handed over the keys to the Supra. She watched once again as her whole world drove away and fell apart around her. She was brought back to reality by a hand on her cheek and a thumb wiping away tears she hadn’t known were falling.

Coming back to reality bright blue eyes landed on the owner of the hand on her face, “I walked away. You watched it happen. I got out of the car.”

Brian frowned as Dom came into a teary kind of focus, “Yeah…” swallowed around the lump in her throat now, “You walked away…”

She closed her eyes for a moment and forced herself to calm down as his hand fully encompassed her cheek now, “Hey. We both know I couldn’t stay there.”

She nodded against his hand but kept her eyes tightly closed as she fought off more tears. She was opening her mouth to say something else when his thumb shifted to press against her lips, “I couldn’t ask you to come with me either because I knew you had your job at risk. I never once imagined that you’d give it all up for the team…”

It was now that she opened her eyes and looked at him, her eyes cold and hard as she dropped her voice so only he could hear her, “Not the team…” As a certain realization seemed to dawn in his eyes she pulled away from him and walked over to the mangled frame on the trailer.

With a heavy sigh she climbed up onto the trailer and called out, “Rome. Wench!”

A few moments later she was joined up on the trailer by Letty and Mia as Rome controlled the wench to center it over the crumpled frame of the charger.

It took a solid ten minutes to properly secure the frame with several chains and hooks before they were ready to lift it up into the air. “Alright Rome. Lift her up!” She and the girls all hopped off the trailer, waiting for Rome to activate the wench. When the car was at least five feet off the trailer Letty called out, “Vince, move the truck!”

Several minutes later and they had the mangled vehicle on a lift and Brian was giving it a solid once over with Rome at her side. They were speaking back and forth in Urdu which caused Letty to pipe up with, “When did you learn Arabic?”

“Started learning it in High School, Rome and I took two years of it. Then got better at it in Juvie.”

“Blondie picked up the spoken faster than I did, but I am better at the written.”

“His script is _much_ neater than mine. Not to mention I mix up the letters a lot.”

“So wait… you guys learned Arabic-“

“Urdu.”

“Whichever. You learned it in high school? Where the hell did you go?”

Rome and Bri exchanged wry looks before simultaneously answering, “Barstow Catholic.”

“Which amuses the shit out of me since Bri is Jewish.”

“Wait. You’re Jewish?!” Brian looked over at Mia and snickered a bit but nodded none the less.

“Yup.”

“And you went to a Catholic school?” When she just nodded Mia looked kind of incredulous now, “Why didn’t you ever say something at dinner?”

Brian couldn’t stop the giggle now as she shook her head, “Because prayer at dinner is prayer is prayer at dinner. Whether it’s ‘Baruch ata Adnoai’ or ‘God bless this food’.”

“With a name like O’Connor you’d think Irish Catholic.”

Brian nodded as she looked over at Leon now, “My father was apparently. But Momma wanted to raise me in her faith and I guess he was okay with it. I don’t really know. I just know I grew up with Hanukkah and Passover until she married the fuck wit that would one day kill her.”

At that several minutes of silence went by before Jesse spoke up, “So that was a bit of an information dump.”

Brian snickered a bit and tossed her braid over her shoulder before walking back to the car, “So this is going to require a _complete_ dismantle before I can do _anything_ with Her. I’ve gotta look at all the parts I’m working with and figure out what I’m gonna need to get Her straightened out.”

She looked around at the group again with wide eyes and made a motion with her hands to the bay as a whole, “So what are we all waiting on?”

At those words the entire team seemed to get the hint and began to move, grabbing up some tools and as a whole they set about taking The Charger apart.


	11. Chapter 10: Coke and Starvation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian and Dom talk alone for the first time since this started.

_So taking the car apart entirely took the rest of the day and a good portion of the night and fixing the chassis_ was _indeed the easier of the jobs that needed to be done on The Charger, and that took four days with the help of several pieces of equipment in the shop plus another three to deal with the frame itself. And once that was all in order I sat down with The Team and walked them through the process even though I knew damn good and well they all knew what I was gonna do._

_At this point I'm sure even you have noticed that they had yet to really answer the damn question as to why they brought Her to me. But I've left it alone until now. And I still planned to. For the time being._

_But I sat with them and talked them through it all and when they even offered to help out, I happily agreed. I had to be stupid to turn down free labor. But it was also nice to spend time working on cars with all of them again. Jesse was still super enthusiastic about everything and had- as always- some ideas about what kind of power could be put under the hood (though we all knew Dom would never let him put anything other than Nos in his baby.) And yeah, it was nice to be around them again. But it was also even nicer when a girl can get a few minutes to her own thoughts..._

          Brian was the only one in the shop and for the first time since this project had started, she had a chance to think. A quiet moment to herself and she was glad for it- even if she had enjoyed having them all around again. They had been working on the Dodge for a week now and were only just getting started on the proper rebuild. Getting the chassis straightened out had taken the full first week alone. Right now, she was under the car getting bolts tightened and in place as the engine block had been put in that morning.

As she was finishing up under the car, she heard booted foot falls enter the bay. Glancing under her arm she identified the tan work boots as Dominic's and returned her focus to the last few bolts she was dealing with. Calling out though she said, "What can I help you with Mr. Toretto?"

His answer had her grinning a bit, "Well since you're already fixing my car, I'll start with asking for a face to face."

Tightening in the last bolt- she'd need to come back to the bolts with a torque wrench now- she put two hands on the frame of the car and rolled herself out from under the car, "Anything for the client." She stood up now and looked at him directly.

"This is the first time you've actually looked at me since this whole thing started..."

Brian raised an eyebrow, smirked a bit and shook her head, "It's not really. But I will concede that it's the first time I've looked you in the eyes."

It was his turn to raise an eyebrow as she moved around him to grab the afore thought about torque wrench. "I've been watching you this whole time, O'Connor. You haven't really looked at me once."

She was putting a socket onto the wrench, with her back to Dom for the moment as she spoke again, "Actually I have. The day you brought in the car. You stood off to the side of the group. You were leaning against the counter and you seemed more relaxed than I remember you being before."

She smiled now as she turned around and popped a battery onto the torque wrench. "You were watching Jesse as he talked about how he decided to look for me. The way you watched him was as if you could listen to him babble all day. Like the little brother that annoys you, but damn do you love him anyway and why bother making him stop talking when just letting him talk means he's happier."

Her smile turned into a grin now as she continued, "And then the way you looked at Rome's notes was hilarious. The expression on your face was a cross between trying to figure out if that was English and constipation."

She was back at the Charger now and had moved to sit on the creeper when she looked back up at Dominic, "So no Dom, this wasn't the first time I've looked at you since this whole thing started." With that she leaned back and pushed herself back under the car to properly tighten the bolts holding the engine in place.

Getting the bolts tightened took a good ten minutes as Brian purposefully took her time, giving herself some extra time to her own thoughts before she could tighten no more. Placing the wrench on her chest she grabbed the frame and rolled the creeper and herself out from under the car.

"So, you said something about a face to face?" She was standing up now and rolling the creeper out of the way as she walked back to her bench and put the torque on it before turning to lean on it and face him.

As he looked at her now, she saw that his face was set into a rather serious expression, like he was thinking kind of hard about something- and not that constipated look of thought that she remembered Vince getting every so often. But like he was giving something some serious thought when he might not have before.

And she just couldn't help poking at him, "Keep that up I'm gonna have to take the batteries out of the smoke alarm."

He looked over at her now with a bland expression, "Alright, smart ass."

"Better a smart ass than a dumb ass."

"So better Jesse, than Vince?"

She snickered now and nodded, "In theory." When he joined in her laughter she felt something in her ache, but she forced herself to ignore it now as she calmed down a bit and cocked her head to the side. "So, a face to face. Guessing you have some questions."

"What happened after I drove off?"

"Wow. Right to the point. Okay..." She cleared her throat and folded her arms over her chest, "Well..."

"You said you were wanted by the law, Brian. Why?"

She frowned and looked over at him again, "Because I took the blame for what went down. And then I ran. I called a cleanup crew that I knew and owed me a few favors. They came and took the charger. I'm guessing you knew that part as I'm fixing her now. But I dealt with the truck driver, then ran."

"What do you mean you took care of him?" His tone sounded concerned and confused. 

"He isn't dead. But he was rather drunk... So making sure that he remembered what I wanted him to was easy. But I boosted a car and then ran. About two years later Tanner finds me and convinces me to do a job for the FBI, they offer to clear my name and Rome's too. I didn't realize that Tanner bargained for you guys too or I'd have jumped harder at the job offer than I originally had..." She sighed and shrugged her shoulders now as she continued for a moment more, "And now here we are, a year after that and I'm fixing The Charger for the second time..."

"Where'd the money for this place come from?"

Brian snickered now, "Rome and I may or may not have boosted the cash off the job the FBI had us doing?"

"How much?"

"How much was there? Or how much did we boost?"

"Yes."

"Several hundred and a couple hundred."

Dom made a noise in the back of his throat and Brian grinned as she watched him shake his head. Whether in amusement or disbelief she didn't know. But probably both.

“But according to the lease and the paperwork our buddy Tej did for us, I have a dead relative that left me money." And for a moment a strange look came over Brian's face, "Though technically that is actually true..." Dom watched as she seemed to get lost in thought for a moment and look off to one side before stating, "I should probably go claim that..."

When she looked back at Dom he had a raised eyebrow and she looked at him in question, "You actually do have an inheritance to claim?"

"Yeah... my step-father died last year and I have to go claim his money..." She sighed and shook her head, "According to the lawyers he left me everything as I'm literally all he had left after my mother died and his children wanted nothing to do with him."

"You gonna go claim it?"

"Might. I got till December to decide. And it's February now, so..." She took a deep breath and shook off a shiver, "How 'bout we change the subject? What else did you wanna know?"

"Why here?"

Brian grinned brightly now, "When I got here the racing scene reminded me of LA. It reminded me of before. It was a taste of what I left behind. What I destroyed. So I stayed."

"It doesn't hurt that the people are pretty too."

Brian shrugged a shoulder now, "They're alright. None of them are what I'm after. But yeah, the eye candy is nice."

Dom seemed to give her a long hard look at the moment now before he asked, "What are you after, O'Connor?"

Giving him a soft smile she pushed off the bench and shook her head once, "Right now, just fixin' a car with some people I haven't seen in a while."

He was clearly about to say something when Rome's voice filled the bay, "Bri! You eat yet today?"

It was clear from the look on Dom's face that he knew her next words were a lie, "Yeah I ate somethin' this mornin."

Rome didn't have to see her face to know the truth, "Bitch, I know you lyin'." Once he got to her he shoved a white paper bag at her and nudged her back a bit, "Go to tha office and eat. Leon an' I can finish with the block."

Taking the bag she shrugged a shoulder and nodded at the car, "It's already bolted in place, you just gotta take the chains off and make sure She's steady."

"Tha's fine. Go eat, we can take care of it."

She shrugged a shoulder again, "I already told you I ate earlier. I'm not hungry."

Rome gave her a hard look and a once over before calling out, "Ortiz! Baby Toretto! Come make Blondie eat!"

"See, I told you she wasn't gonna." Mia's voice came up from behind Brian now followed next by Letty's, "Only two things make a person that skinny. Coke and starvation."

Brian's fingers tightened in the bag as she once more shrugged a shoulder, "I'm not starving myself... I just forget to eat..."

It was Dom's turn now, but instead of poking at Brian, he seemed to save her, "Y'all quit. Letty, Mia, help Roman and Leon with the car. Brian and I are gonna go for a ride." So saying he placed a hand on her neck under her braid and gently guided her from the garage out to the front lot where everyone's cars were parked.


	12. Chapter 11: Change of View

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next we hear from someone else and get their side of things...

_So from everything you've witnessed so far, you can clearly tell we rocked her to her core. We flipped everything upside down on her and left her blindsided._

_And while she heads to the bathroom I'm gonna give you things from my point of view..._

**One Year Ago**

He was sitting on the front porch with a Corona in hand when a man in a pair of slacks and a button down walks up that path to him. "Dominic Toretto?" He was American. And he knew who Dom was... Which meant he knew about everyone else too...

The man could clearly tell he was getting antsy because he held up a hand, "Relax. I'm not here to bring you all in." It was at this point that Vince stepped out onto the porch beside Dom and the Toretto man could feel how tense the other was. "I'm actually here with a letter from Captain Tanner. It's contents are in regards to you and yours' innocence. There's a deal on a table for a certain person. And if they can be found and things go well, all of your lifestyles can change." The man stepped up onto the porch now and pulled an envelope from his back pocket, handing it over to Vince.

When the scruffy man took the letter the man in slacks stepped off the porch backwards and slid his hands into his pockets, "The way things went down was shit for all parties. But hopefully that won't matter for long." With a nod of his head the man that was clearly a cop turned on his heel and lazily sauntered back down the walk and headed back for the direction he'd come from.

Dom watched the man while Vince opened the letter. After a few moments his voice sounded awed, "Dom... you might wanna read this..."

After he was handed the letter Dom found himself standing up slowly and his eyes going wide. If what he was reading was right, Tanner was looking for O'Connor and his family were all about to get their lives back... But... why did they have to find Her?

 

_So while I told the family what was going on I found myself wondering what happened. It was then that I had Jesse do a bit of research. What he found for me was...interesting..._

**Six Months Later**

"So from what I can gather with everything I found, O'Connor ran after she let you go."

"But why? What did her skinny ass have to run from?" This from Letty.

"I'm not sure exactly. But I found a few articles that said she was missing and wanted for questioning in our case."

"Yeah, but why? Why question her and why _would_ she run?"

Mia's voice piped up from behind Dom now as she entered the room with Vince behind her, "Well she was the officer on the case, so it stands to reason they'd wanna question her. But I agree, why would she run?"

"To cover for us. To try and keep the heat off of us while we ran too." Vince's statement caused Dominic to look at him with wide eyes and a raised brow. "Look, she may have been a cop, but she made a decision. Dom she let you go. She saved me when she didn't have to. She took out Tran. For Jesse when she thought he was dead- still thinks he's dead I'm sure."

"V's right. She put her life and career on the line for us." Leon spoke up from where he'd been quietly listening on the couch by Jesse. "Erica- or Brianne I guess is her name-"

"Brian. She hates her name." Apparently Mia had gotten to know more about O'Connor than they'd thought. He'd ask about that later.

"Either way. She made her decision. And apparently we're about to be cleared because of it."

Dom frowned now and turned his focus back to Jesse, "So why do they have to find her?"

"Well, it seems that when she doesn't want to be found, she isn't."

"Have _you_ found her?"

"Not directly, and to be honest I'm not sure I'm done. Brian has popped off and on the radar so many times I'm not sure if half of them are real..." Dom was about to say something when Jesse cut him off, "Don't worry I'll keep digging. I'll find her."

 

_And for sure he did. He kept looking until seven months later he barged into my room in the middle of the night..._


	13. Chapter 12: Hacking...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse hacks things and wakes people up.

 "Dom! I found her!" Jesse was out of breath and sounding as if he'd run a mile in ten seconds.

Groggily the older  man rubbed at his eyes and slowly sat up in his bed, the sheet falling to his waist as he did. Behind Jesse he could hear Mia and Vince opening their door while Leon was already standing behind Jesse with Letty popping her head out of her room across the hall.

Jesse's next words were said so fast that Dom had to hold up a hand and force the kid to start over, "Breathe Jesse. I can't understand you when you get excited like that. Nice and slow for me, yeah? Some of us aren't awake yet."

Behind Jesse, Leon gave a snicker and dropped a hand onto the younger's shoulder to help calm him down.

"Sorry, Dom." Jesse looked sheepish for a moment and took a steadying breath before starting over. "She's in Miami and apparently a part of some race to take out a kingpin named Carter Verone!"

There was a hiss from Letty as he was now standing with the rest in the hallway, "She's doing what now?"

"Has she lost her damn mind?" From Mia who was leaning lazily against Vince.

"This might be what she had to do for that deal..." Vince offered , "But Jesse how did you find her?"

The younger took a moment to look sheepish before clearing his throat, "I may or may not have hacked into Captain Tanner's computer from here..."

Everyone looked at him now and Dom asked, "And how exactly did you manage that?"

He looked sheepish still, "I may or may not have hacked a satellite?"

Leon snickered into his hand now as Dom raised an eyebrow, "Jess, we talked about that..."

"How else were we gonna find her? I was coming up on nothing but dead ends... But now we can go to her! I found her and we can go bring her home!"

What surprised him wasn't how Jesse said what he did. But it was the way that everyone- Letty and Vince included, quickly and readily agreed with Jesse. However there was one catch.

"We can't."

This was met by everyone exclaiming at once, "What?! Why?!"

Sleepily he laughed and yawned, "We have to wait for Tanner's letter saying we're cleared."

While everyone deflated and groaned their disappointment he laughed and rolled over. They knew where she was. From the way it looked, she was in the process of clearing them. They would see her soon.

Now they just had to wait.

They needed a distraction...


	14. Chapter 13: Distractions and Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So Dom tries to provide distractions and in the mean time gets a letter...

  _So we waited. It was a long wait. But word from Tanner came a week after Jesse found her. Apparently the paperwork had to be processed. And Tanner did the best he could, but it was going to be a little while. Thankfully I'd found a distraction for the team..._

 

"Dom tell me again why you waited until now for this?"

"I was procrastinating. The last time I worked on this car was with Her. I crashed it beside Her. Every last memory I have of this car involves Her."

"Aaand now?"

Dom smirked and gave Vince a look, "We need a distraction. And since we're gonna bring her home I think now it'll make for a good one."

"Dom, we have a minor issue."

The bald man turned around to find Jesse frowning at his laptop. "What's that?"

"Well it looks like most of the parts we need are gonna have to be ordered from out of country. But a lot of them- with the places I've called are on back order. This rebuild might take a while."

Dom frowned for a moment before shrugging and giving a sigh, "Order them. They'll get here when they get here. For now we work the garage and help Tio at the bar."

 

_So maybe my distraction didn't pan out very well. But at least we got the parts in. Though by that time more time had passed than we'd anticipated. But the good news we all waited so impatiently for was finally here..._

**One Week Later**

 

Dom looked up from the engine of a Kia he was working on to see a man he hadn't seen in nearly a year walk up to the bay doors. "Mister Toretto. I see you're busy, but I have something for you." Dom stood upright and walked over to the bay doors with a rag in hand as he wiped them of the grease. As soon as he was within reach the American Officer handed over an envelope that he procured from a back pocket once again. "Hopefully I get to bring you one more soon." The man gave a wink and wandered off from the direction he'd apparently come from once again.

Dom wandered back to the Kia as Letty walked up, "Who was that?"

"Same guy as brought the first letter." Letty watched Dom's face remain impassive as he read and he could feel her impatience ratchet up several notches.

"Well?" She finally spat when she couldn't take it any more.

Smirking into the letter he shrugged a shoulder, "She put the man behind bars. The paperwork might take a little longer, but we're being cleared of everything. Or if he can't get that done he'll have our files redacted and sealed. He says that it's been done for a while now, but he's been fighting with Legal and the FBI on getting everything pushed through. He finally made some headway last month and hopefully it doesn't take too much longer."

"So... We're free?"

"Almost."

"She did it. She fucking did it!" Dom smirked and watched as Letty got excited in a way he hadn't seen her in a very long time. She danced her way to the office crowing in excitement that trickled over to Mia as she happily told the younger female about the letter Dom had just gotten.

It was as he was about to bend back over the Kia's engine that Jesse ran up to him out of breath once more, "Is it true?"

"Yes, Jess. I just got the letter." He handed it over for the younger to inspect now as he returned to working on the car.

After Jesse read the letter- probably for the fifth or sixth time- he let out a happy sound and grinned at Dom who was standing now and closing the hood of the Kia, "So maybe we should all sit down and come up with some kind of plan?"

"That's a good idea, Jess." Dom clapped the younger on his shoulder as he moved to head to the office. "We can all figure out how we want to go about getting there and convincing her that we come in peace."

Jesse giggled at that as he followed Dom back into the office.


	15. Chapter 14: Dinner and Ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse sounds like a book report and has an idea.  
> And Dom refuses to leave people behind...

  _So that night we sat down to dinner like normal but after prayer, Jesse made a valid point..._

 

"Okay, so I did some more research and I found out that Brian now is the owner of a Garage of her own. She runs it with a guy named Roman." 

"Roman? Who the hell is that?" 

Dom raised a brow at the defensive way that Mia asked that and hid his grin in his burger as Jesse continued.

"From what I was able to dig up it was the guy she mentioned before. The one that she lifted cars with in Barstow."

"So Barstow was real?" Vince sounded kind of surprised.

"The key to a good lie is to make it mostly truth. Brianne O'Connor was born and raised in Barstow, California. Her mother died when she was 16 and she spent a short time period in Juvie not long after that. Roman Pierce was her long time friend, they grew up together until he got sent to Jail for Grand Theft at 15. After he did his time he did a bunch of derby racing until Brian apparently called on him for the case against Verone."

"Well damn, Jess. How do you know all that?"

Leon snickered now, "He's part machine, Vince. I thought you knew that."

"Anyway... She's made a name and a life for herself... What if... I mean..." Jesse was frowning down at his plate now unable to finish the thought that he clearly had.

"What if what, Jesse?"

Dom looked across at Vince now, "What if she doesn't want to leave?"

Jesse nodded solemnly into his plate with a frown across his lips.

"Well then we either convince her to or we stay there."

Everyone looked at Dom now as he returned his focus to his food, "But Dom, Echo Park-"

"Will always be home. But if she doesn't want to leave Miami, I'm not gonna make her." He looked up at them all now, eyes moving to each of them in turn as he spoke again, "And I'm not leaving her behind this time."

"Well how are we gonna convince her that we aren't there to kill her?" This was from Vince.

"I might have an idea. But it involves the Charger..." Jesse spoke up again and everyone turned to look at him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check it, y'all!  
> Y'all got THREE chapters in one sitting~  
> Now I need to work on the next one.  
> I've got the intro to it started, but so far that's it.  
> Hopefully the muse for it stays with me for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> I started this a while back and wasn't sure if I was going to post it at all.  
> I figured I'd post what I have and let others decide if they'd want to read more.


End file.
